In 1990, the Disney Channel aired a special called The American Dream Contest. This contest was open to high school students and basically gave them the opportunity to make and submit a short film about a subject which they thought expressed young peoples’ views about America. One of the shorts chosen to air on this special was entitled “I Am Speechless”… and the 17-year old girl who made it seemed to score a major coup when she found an unknown actress named Calista Flockhart to be her lead!